


Common Ground

by cinderfell



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Accidental Bonding, F/M, Family Dinners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 11:24:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10018004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderfell/pseuds/cinderfell
Summary: Percival is very adamant about Cassandra bonding with Vex'ahlia.





	

Cassandra isn’t exactly sure how to start approaching the concept of Vex’ahlia. Her problem is only worsened by the fact that neither Vex or her brother seem particularly fond of the idea of bringing up their situation.

So the three of them are a bit stuck - and she knows that de Rolos are very, _very_ good at dancing around conversations that need to happen - but even they have their limits, and patience can only go so far before one of them snaps.

The person who snaps, it turns out, is Percival.

“So,” Percy says one day, standing awkwardly in the threshold of her bedroom.

“So,” Cassandra repeats dryly, not bothering to look up from the papers she’s reading through at her desk.

“About Vex’ahlia.” Cassandra rolls her eyes, grateful that Percy can’t see her face. She’s been waiting for this talk for a long time now, and she’s felt it lingering just on the horizon ever since Percy raised her to nobility. Percy has gotten very good at avoiding her in their own home, she’s found.

“Yes, brother?”

“You know, she’s quite a remarkable woman.” Percy fidgets with the edge of his sleeve as he speaks, and it’s almost adorable how the concept of having this conversation makes him so nervous. “Very clever.” He reaches up to tug at the collar of his shirt. “You two would get along if you talked, I think.”

_Oh, brother._

“Percy, there’s got to be a better way for you to tell me you’re in love with Vex’ahlia,” she says with a snort.

Percy freezes up. “What?”

“That’s what this is about, right?” She raises an eyebrow. “You finally stopped avoiding me and decided to be upfront about how you’re utterly bewitched by that woman.”

Percy opens his mouth to speak, fails to find anything to say, closes it again, and then finally blurts out, “How did you know?”

“You haven’t exactly been subtle, Percival,” she scoffs.

He makes an offended noise. “I was perfectly subtle when it came to my affections.”

“The way you _look_ at her, Percy!” she exclaims. He looks at Vex like she hung the stars in the sky herself, like she’s the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen in his life and he wants to spend the rest of it figuring out her mysteries. It’s sort of adorable, if a little obnoxious.

“I don’t look at her in _any_ way! There’s no look!” He purses his lips and Cassandra can’t help the laugh that bubbles up from her.

“You’re an idiot,” she decides. “You’re so clever, but you’re _such_ an idiot.”

He shakes his head, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Well, since that’s out of the way.” Percy lets out a long sigh. “I wanted us to have dinner together or something. Just the three of us.”

She blinks at that, raising an eyebrow at him. “Why?”

He furrows his brow. “Do you really need to ask? You’re important to me and so is Vex.” Now he seems slightly more unsure of himself. “That’s… that’s what normal people do, right? They take their significant other to dinner with their family as a serious step.”

“I suppose,” she agrees slowly.

And it’s weird thinking that when they say family, it’s just the two of them now. It shouldn’t be weird-- the de Rolo family is long gone, _has_ been long gone for over five years now-- but losing everyone else, everything they had? It’s not something you can ever get used to, she thinks.

“Will that make you happy?” she asks, leaning back to look at him. “Me trying to bond with Vex?”

Percy gives her a small, nervous smile. “I think so?”

She sighs. “Alright.”

So that’s how she ends up in the dining hall with her brother and his girlfriend, all three of them seated a little bit too far from each other and none of them making any interesting conversation. Vex in particular seems incredibly interested in her potatoes, mashing them even further than they were when she was originally given them. Percy seems more than a little out of his depth, and she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t a little bit satisfying.

And Cass? Well, Cass is just trying to move this whole thing along.

Months of running a city mostly by herself has made her fairly good at it.

“So, Vex’ahlia,” she prompts after the silence has stretched on for too long, hanging over the three of them uncomfortably. Vex’s head whips up to meet her eyes at the sound of her name, then gives Cassandra an unsure smile. “Where are you from?”

Vex’s unsure smile wavers and she catches Percy grimace out of the corner of her eye. Oh, great. She threw Vex a soft question and it ended up hitting a tender area. Vex gives a laugh that’s not at all happy. “Oh, you know. Here and there. Syngorn for a while, although not by my own choice, and before that a little rural town where I was born.”

“Nowhere you’d consider home?” Cass guesses slowly.

Vex’s hand tightens around her spoon. “Emon, but that’s kind of up in the air right now what with the rebuilding.”

The conversation slides off after that, with neither woman knowing how to follow that up. Percy is awkwardly caught in the middle.

He lets out a stuttering laugh as he looks between them. “Wonderful food tonight.”

“Quite,” Cassandra agrees-- mostly for the sake of filling the silence-- before sparing a glance down at the bland food in question. Whitestone isn’t exactly known for its culinary excellence.

“Yes,” Vex says, still mashing her potatoes.

Percy lets out another stunted laugh, and this time Cass can’t help but feel awful for him. And awful for Vex’ahlia. And, frankly, awful for herself. This is a rather lousy dinner.

“You say you’ve been all over, Vex,” she tries again, and Vex meets her gaze with dark, unsure eyes and gives a slow nod. “I’m sure you must have stories to share.”

Vex laughs nervously. “Uh, well I’m not sure if I can think of one on the spot.”

“How about something before the Conclave attack?” she suggests, trying to keep her tone easy going and encouraging. “I think we’re all sick of hearing about that at this point.”

The older woman licks her lips as she seems to think. “Well, most of my stories are still related to killing things.”

“That’s fine,” Cassandra assures. “I expect nothing less. Anything interesting or humorous or--”

“Ooh,” Vex squeals in delight-- a noise that startles Cassandra and makes her jump in her chair at the sudden turn in the mood-- shifting in her chair to look at Percy. “Percy, what about that time during the Take trials where--”

“No,” Percy says instantly, cutting her off. Cass isn’t sure if she’s imagining it, but he looks a bit paler than usual.

“But darling! That was one of your finest moments!” Vex puts her chin in her hands and looks across the table at him with a wry smile. Really, Cassandra can’t help but marvel at the way Vex flips once her full attention shifts to Percival, her eyes wide and bright as her entire posture relaxes. It’s… well, it’s a rather endearing mirror to the way Percy acts when his attention is focused on Vex. They seem like a good pair, Cassandra decides.

“You and I remember that moment very differently, Vex’ahlia,” he shoots back, his brow furrowing.

“It was lovely,” she says breathily.

“Wait,” Cassandra interjects, and both of them turn to look at her. “I’m a bit lost. What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” Percy says at the same time that Vex says, “Your brother’s onesie.”

“My brother’s what?” she repeats, blinking rapidly.

“Ugh,” is all Percy says as he drops his head into his hands, seeming to understand that he’s just lost this battle.

“Your brother has this awful set of pajamas with a flap in the back,” Vex explains excitedly, and Cassandra raises an eyebrow in the direction of Percy, who groans into his hands. “When we were doing the Slayer’s Take trials, we got jumped while we weren’t prepared and Percival here absolutely unleashed on our attackers, buttflap down.”

“That’s…” Cassandra trails off, a small smile spreading across her face. “Incredibly undignified.”

“Isn’t it just?” Vex’s grin is massive now, the full force of it turned directly at Cassandra. Cass can’t help but admit that she can see why Percy would be so fond of Vex, especially with that smile turned on her.

Cassandra, abandoning pretending to eat her food completely, leans her elbow on the table in an incredibly unladylike manner and puts her chin in her hand. “Do you have any more embarrassing stories about my brother that he doesn’t want me to know?”

Vex makes a delighted cackle. “Darling, I have so many.”

Percy raises his head from his hands so he can cast a scowl at both of them, then he crosses his arms over his chest and leans his head back so he’s staring up at the ceiling, obviously resigning himself to his fate.

Well, Percy wanted them to bond, didn’t he? And it turns out enjoying Percy being in embarrassing situations is common ground for both of them, and common ground is the quickest way to bonding.

So, _really_ , they’re just doing what Percival asked them to do.

**Author's Note:**

> rip percy


End file.
